Toyota set to pay $1.2 billion to settle U.S. criminal probe

NEW YORK – Toyota Motor Corp. has reached a settlement to end a U.S. criminal probe of sudden unexpected acceleration of its vehicles, three people familiar with the matter said.

The settlement, which isn’t final, could be announced as early as Wednesday in the U.S. and will be for $1.2 billion, said two of the people, who asked not to be named because the agreement isn’t public.

The carmaker recalled more than 10 million vehicles for problems related to unintended acceleration in 2009 and 2010, starting with a September 2009 announcement that it was recalling 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles because of a defect that might cause floor mats to jam accelerator pedals. The company later recalled vehicles over defects involving the pedals themselves.

In addition to the criminal probe by the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office and the New York office of Federal Bureau of Investigation, the recalls led to lawsuits claiming that defects harmed the value of Toyota vehicles or caused accidents leading to death and injury. Toyota settled suits brought by car owners who claimed economic losses for about $1.6 billion.

Jerika Richardson, a spokeswoman for Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, declined to comment on the settlement. Kelly Langmesser, a spokeswoman for the FBI in New York, didn’t immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment on it.

“Toyota has cooperated with the U.S. Attorney’s office in this matter for more than four years,” Steve Curtis, a Toyota spokesman, said in an emailed statement. “During that time, we have made fundamental changes to become a more responsive and customer-focused organization, and we are committed to continued improvements.”

Toyota has responded well to car owner complains and have paid $1.6 billion to them in addition to federal fines of $16.375 million and a $17.35 million fine in 2012 for evidential delays in safety defect reporting.